On September 4, Ruiz (35-2-1, 22 KOs) will end a two-year hiatus from the ring when he fights Poland’s Damian Knyba (17-1, 11 KOs) at the Prudential Center in in New Jersey. The fight will be the first of his new promotional deal with Matchroom.

Should Ruiz win, he will have a very close eye on proceedings if, as expected, Joshua and Fury fight later this year.

In June 2019, Ruiz produced one of the biggest upsets in boxing history when he stopped Joshua in the seventh round of their WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight title fight at Madison Square Garden.

Joshua started well and floored Ruiz in the third round but ran into trouble when he aggressively tried to finish the fast-handed Mexican-American and got dropped by a well-timed left hook. From that point on, Ruiz wouldn’t be denied and scored three more knockdowns before forcing a stunning stoppage.

Joshua has undoubtedly been more circumspect since that night but during an interview with talkSPORT, Ruiz said he must take the initiative against Fury.

“It's going to be a good fight,” Ruiz said. “I'm going to tell you the truth. If Tyson Fury gets in Joshua's head, he boxes around, moves around, throws his combinations, maybe it could affect Anthony Joshua but if Anthony Joshua goes in there and starts banging out with Tyson Fury, he could probably win. It only takes one punch to change the whole fight. That's going to be an exciting fight.”

Ruiz’s return to the sharp end of the heavyweight division coincides neatly with Oleksandr Usyk’s recent decision to vacate his heavyweight titles.

Ruiz, 36, remains one of the biggest names in the heavyweight division, which is in a state of flux. With new champions and contenders looking for ways to validate their own claims to be recognized as its next leader, Ruiz will quickly find himself a man in demand should he get past Knyba.

He insists that his return isn’t an opportunistic one but the start of a serious push to regain a heavyweight title belt.

“No, I think this is the the position of of continuing my mission, to complete my mission and that's becoming another two-time heavyweight champion of the world,” he said.

“I want the WBC belt. I want The Ring belt. Those are the belts that that are missing in my collection and so right now the opportunity is there and the only thing to do is to work hard, pray and just become champion again. Just like how I did it before, I could do it again.”